The Mansion was but a mere shell of its former self. The paint had grown grey with age, flaking off and revealing the old bricks beneath. The windows had been boarded shut, from the outside as if to keep something inside.
“Mommy?” the little boy asked, as he and the older woman approached the building.
“Yes dear?” She asked, patting her son in a comforting gesture. The boy flinched as she did so, her hand was as cold as ice.
“I’m scared.”
The two of them had planned to arrive in the middle of the day. Yet even now the shadows surrounded the building. The blackened clouds of an approaching storm, blocked most light from shining down and silencing their fears.
“It’s okay,” she said, none too sure herself. “We only have to stay here for a few days. Then we’ll be off to find a better place.”
“Mommy, where’s daddy?”
The older woman could not meet the little boy’s eyes, “Daddy is, daddy is somewhere else right now.” She grabbed the little boys hand and stepped up to the porch of the mansion. The faint creak of the wood beneath her feet sent chills down her spine. The little grip in her hand, tightened alongside hers.
She reached her hand out towards the doorbell, but the door swung open on rusty hinges before she could so much as touch it.
A man greeted the two from inside the unlit mansion. His wore old clothing writhen with mothballs and age. His eyes were nice and gentle, when he spoke his voice alone was enough to calm you, “Mrs. Alda Phage?”
She nodded her head.
“Hurry in, Hurry in. Before the ol’ storm starts acting up again.”
The woman complied, stepping into the mansion while pulling her child inside with her. Her hand was met with notable resistance as the boy tried to refuse being pulled inside. He calmed down, as they crossed the border of the door.
The house inside was even darker and gloomier than the storm outside. Portraits upon portraits lined the walls, as if to stare down on you constantly. The dim light of the torches on the walls, only made the faces seem all the more gruesome.
The man shut the door, barring it closed with a large wooden beam. It looked heavy and Alda was surprised that a man of his short build could use it with such ease.
The caretaker rubbed the back of his head, “I trust your journey here went well?”
The little boy was the one to answer, with a smile no less, “It was awesome. We rode a train, and a car, and then we walked through a forest with deer and everythin’!”
The caretaker bent down on his knees, to get on eye level with the boy. He rubbed the kids head, “Well I’m glad to hear that. Nothin’ bad happened I hope?” The caretaker bowed slightly towards the woman by the name of Alda Phage, “The master told me to take care of you while you stayed here. I’m surprised you would want to stay in a place like this, even if it was for a mere day. This place isn’t exactly known for its… homely atmosphere.”
“It is enough,” she said.
“That it is,” The man answered, drawing a torch from the walls, “I won’t pry at your reasons. Just keep in my mind not to walk out alone into the dark.”
“M-monsters?” The boy asked.
“Nah,” The Man said, flexing his arm, “I’ve already been most them away. Now the only thing left is an occasional hole in the floor. I don’t want my guests getting hurt for something so… inconsequential.”
